The Vignette Focuses on the Cultural Connotations Regarding Gossip Featuring Poet Yesika Salgado & Actor Johnathan Fernandez from HBO Max’s Gossip Girl
HBO Max’s Latino social audience initiative, Pa’lante! and creative agency WORD, releases a new episode of ARE YOU LISTENING?,’ exclusively for Instagram and YouTube titled Let’s Talk Chisme Episode seven of the social first series which launched in 2021 and had a second run last year, is an intimate conversation between L.A. based Salvadorian poet, Yesika Salgado, and Gossip Girl’s Johnathan Fernandez.
In Let’s Talk Chisme, Yesika and Johnathan touch on the differences between being called a chismoso (gossiper) in their childhoods and how gender played a huge role into the connotation of the word. The pair delve into the different ways chisme can be looked at depending on one’s respective culture and gender but how ultimately it’s about telling stories.
“I grew up being called a chismosa, but for me it wasn’t a good thing,” reminisces Yesika Salgado. “All of my tias and relatives would be like ‘oh Yesika is a chismosa, don’t tell these stories in front of her because she’s gonna repeat them.’ So I grew up with this thing where I was shamed for wanting to tell stories.”
Jonathan remembered it much differently for himself, “for me growing up, my mama calling me ‘chismoso’ was always so playful… always in low stakes environments like literally just sniffing around the soup that was being made or something.”
Hearing their different viewpoints on being called chismosos really resonated with Yesika as she recalls moments where she had written about her family stories that ended up causing drama. A frustrating dilemma for her as a writer because as she mentioned, her stories have to come from somewhere. “We forget that conversation is an artform and one of the most beautiful traditions…” affirms Yesika.
Conversations like these are what HBO Max Pa’lante! & WORD Creative’s ARE YOU LISTENING? is all about to showcase the nuanced thoughts and discussions within the Latino community which are both cultural and universal, stay tuned for more soon.
